In what’s now become an annual tradition at QSR, we asked our Digital Disruptors a straightforward question with no straight-line answers: What do you think is the next big tech trend nobody is talking about today?
COVID was, in many respects, the tinder to tech changes rather than an inventor of them. Guests were asking for digital enablement and engagement long before the crisis. But where this industry differed from retail and some other segments ahead of the curve, is the delicate weight placed on the operator and customer. There is a balance between chasing solutions and remembering why somebody left their house for hospitality.
All said, there are more options and answers than ever in the pool. How do you choose? Where do you invest? Is “AI” the singular concept people tend to paint it as? Let’s see what the experts had to say.
Jen Kern
CMO, QU
This is a hard question because restaurants are talking about a lot of tech and trends these days. From AI to Loyalty 3.0 to CDPs and personalized experiences—the trend is definitely in the direction of more relevant experiences. But we’re still quite far away from the Amazon and Netflix like personalization in QSR experiences. I believe restaurant execs are often attracted to the next shiny object, but we need to be careful not to miss the forest for the trees. Deliver exceptional food and an exceptional experience, every time.
The thing everyone has been talking about since I joined the industry is the “Frictionless, seamless experience.” But it exists almost nowhere. I black-listed those two terms because they are not true. There are few restaurant experiences that are frictionless. The guest ordering journey is rife with complexity—there are often 20 touchpoints and up to 40 different systems in the process. So the trend nobody is talking about is: how do we ACTUALLY forget about frictionless (which means it doesn’t stink) and deliver an exceptional experience. Be exceptional. Not just “good enough.” Technology is part of the solution, but it must be blended with human hearts, hands, and minds. That’s the spirit of modern hospitality. Getting 100 percent digital is fine, but being exceptional will win every time. And I believe every restaurant should have a shot at being exceptional.
Chrissy Ouellette
Vice President of Sales & Business Development, Touchpoint Restaurant Solutions
I think we are starting to hear something I have been chatting about for a few months. “Consolidation due to vendor fatigue.” It’s a real thing and I think in the next 6 to 12 months we will continue to see this issue gain steam. We all know running restaurants is tough, very tough. So many balls to juggle just taking care of your guests, inventory and staffing, add 15–20 tech vendors and products to manage, you must add overhead just to manage this piece of an already tough business. Integrations are lackluster to say the least, they don’t always work, lots of finger pointing and the expense of the product and maintaining it cuts into revenue. So what is the answer to this? Platforms that have natively built products to remove 5-6 different vendors. This makes things simple, lessens the dependency on multiple vendor integrations
Eric Lam
CEO, Berry AI
People are not talking enough about the immense potential of vision AI in a standardized, operations-focused industry like QSR. Folks with less exposure to this tech haven’t been inspired by what the tech can do (outside of facial recognition). Folks with significant exposure, such as tech teams in leading QSRs likely started testing this tech a decade ago, but many still have the lasting imprint of AI performance from then.
Vision AI today has improved significantly and come down in cost. There are lots of unsexy, operational use cases of vision AI that will simplify store crews’ jobs—automating inventory counts, verifying hold times, store cleanliness, auditing overall brand standards, these use cases will just work quietly in the background, becoming a standard visual companion to store GMs.
Aaron Nilsson
CIO, Jet’s Pizza
A common answer might be AI, but in my opinion that’s the “now” and we have been in for five years taking benefit. What’s “next” is the exploitation of all these new tools to facilitate a hyper personal connection to our customer community and get us past thinking about segments of our customer base. I want brands I love to know “me” as opposed to just know “people like me”. If you can still justifiably have a local brick and mortar store (like may always be the case for businesses serving hot food) then the challenge/opportunity is to foster a sense of community and connection to the person and let their love for your brand grow from that connection. Or, you know, maybe drones.
Savannah Schmidt
VP of Marketing, Lunchbox
Luckily, I get to sit and learn from technologists in the space—trends included. One big trend that is top-of-mind is headless CRM.
Imagine a single café that only offers dine-in—they know all of their guests.
Now imagine that café adds online ordering via Lunchbox, loyalty programs via Punchh, and joins marketplaces like DoorDash. That same café no longer knows who it is serving and where their guests are coming from. This is what has been happening throughout the past decade and was exacerbated by COVID-19, as restaurants rapidly adopted multiple digital platforms to survive.
Too much data, equals no data. And success without attribution makes strategy for these restaurants virtually impossible. The solution is a universal layer—the future of off-premises solutions lies in Headless CRM.
It doesn’t matter where the guests come from; their data must be centralized. And that data has to allow for easy deployment so restaurants can strategically re-target guests through their online ordering systems, converting them to use their own app, website, catering services, etc. This is the only way to retain guests effectively.
Christine Schindler
Cofounder & CEO, PathSpot
As the hospitality and food service industries continue to face a range of macro-economic challenges, such as inflation and lower consumer discretionary spending, operators can’t afford to manage safety and compliance manually and risk the potential for food waste, expensive shutdowns, insurance hikes and audit failures. I believe the next big trend is the complete digitization and integration of food safety systems. At PathSpot, we’re pioneering this with our SafetySuite, the first fully digital holistic hygiene management platform. This trend goes beyond just handwashing or temperature checks; it’s about creating an interconnected ecosystem that covers all aspects of food safety and operations, easily managed and monitored from a single dashboard. I believe we’ll see more restaurants adopting these comprehensive digital solutions, moving away from manual processes and isolated tech tools. This shift will revolutionize how restaurants manage food safety, making it more proactive, data-driven, and seamlessly integrated into daily operations.
Keith Correia
CIO, Portillo’s
Drone delivery is a tech trend we’re keeping an eye on. It won’t happen overnight, but I think there’s potential for drone technology to revolutionize how we think about convenience and customer service in the food industry.
Allen Beck
Director of Off-Premise and Catering, Costa Vida
One of the emerging trends that’s gaining traction but not fully explored yet is AI-driven personalization in restaurants. While many are talking about AI, its potential goes far beyond basic customer data analysis. Advanced machine learning algorithms can predict individual customer preferences, optimize real-time menu recommendations, and tailor promotions based on behavior and context. However, the real question restaurants need to address is: Where and how can AI truly benefit our operations? It’s similar to the challenge many brands face with customer data platforms (CDPs)—now that you have the data, how do you meaningfully leverage it? The next big leap is figuring out how AI can be used in various areas, from inventory management to guest engagement, and how it can create tangible, scalable value for both restaurants and their customers.
Alice Cheng
Founder and CEO, Culinary Agents
Perhaps the expression, “what’s old is new again” speaks to the next big tech trend, too. With AI and other technology advancement helping with operational efficiencies, it frees up the headspace for hospitality professionals to shift their focus and tap into their human potential, ultimately taking hospitality to the next level.
Sophia Goldberg
CEO and Cofounder, Ansa
QR codes may soon be obsolete. Especially with the changes to Apple’s NFC ecosystem and the normalization of contactless payments, I think in the coming years we won’t see as many scanners and QR codes in stores. The experience for consumers can be slow and inconvenient, not to mention brands are required to invest in new hardware and employee training. On the contrary, alternate solutions like digital wallets will continue to gain traction. More than half of Americans use digital wallets more often than traditional payment methods, and we expect that number to continue to grow as younger generations embrace the convenience of digital wallet and tap-to-pay payment.
Jarrett Nasca
Chief Marketing Officer, GRUBBRR
The restaurant industry has traditionally been laggards in embracing new technology. Restaurants have largely operated in a similar way for years, yet the industry has begun to recognize the importance of embracing technology to create operational efficiencies, drive revenue and improve the customer experience. There has been a shift as restaurants are investing in new technology, yet implementing new solutions requires operators to adjust their workflows. Restaurants need to be equally vigilant about modifying their processes to maximize the value of their new technology as they were about deciding which technology to purchase. It’s not enough to merely invest in new solutions, businesses need to ensure they make any necessary operational adjustments to maximize the value of new technology.
Allison Page
Founder and Chief Product Officer, SevenRooms
While AI is certainly a hot topic, much of the conversation has focused on its applications in marketing, chatbots, and other online, digital touchpoints. Don’t get me wrong—those are logical applications for AI, but what no one is really talking about yet is how AI can impact the offline world to truly personalize the guest experience within the four walls of the restaurant.
AI has the potential to hyper-personalize service in ways we haven’t seen before—everything from anticipating guest preferences to suggesting personalized menu items in real-time. We’re excited about how AI will transform not just the digital world, but also the offline world, enhancing the dining experience in a truly meaningful way.
Cristal Craven
Global Director of Strategic Partnerships, SynergySuite
Predictive Analytics. While everyone’s talking about AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants in the restaurant industry, there’s a less flashy but incredibly powerful trend emerging: AI-powered predictive analytics. While it might not be as glitzy as robots delivering food, AI-powered predictive analytics is quietly revolutionizing the industry.
This technology can:
Optimize inventory management: By predicting demand and preventing overstocking or shortages.
Improve menu engineering: By analyzing sales data to identify popular and unpopular items, helping restaurants tailor their menus for maximum profitability.
Optimize staffing levels: By forecasting customer traffic and adjusting staffing accordingly to reduce labor costs and improve efficiency.
Ray Gallagher
GM, Olo Engage, Olo
One trend that’s still under the radar is AI-driven, real-time guest interaction. Today we see AI in chatbots, content creation copilots, and basic customer service applications. The next evolution will be AI systems that adapt to a guest’s behavior, mood, and preferences in real-time. Imagine walking into a restaurant, and based on data from past orders, direct or inferred preferences, or even your mood (detected via smart wearables—if you choose to share it), the restaurant could personalize your entire experience dynamically, including menu suggestions and tailored promotions or offers.
Chris Crichton
SVP of Growth, Restaurant & Convenience, Bounteous
We see a number of trends across the industries we work in and use the insights we capture to guide our restaurant and convenience clients. Specific to QSR, I expect restaurants to take a page from our retail clients, and we’ll begin to see more guest-facing experiences that incorporate Store Modes, allowing brands to create targeted experiences for both on and off-prem guests.
Vishwa Chandra
Vice President of Enterprise Restaurant Partnerships, DoorDash
The next big tech trend is the growth and optimization of first-party channels. As guest preferences continue to evolve, restaurants will need to focus on engagement across various digital platforms and connection points. This shift towards maximizing first-party growth channels will be crucial, as it represents the next frontier in building direct relationships with consumers. In the coming years, Vishwa expects this trend will drive significant innovation in how restaurants interact with their guests and tailor their offerings.
Matt Tucker
Head, Tock
Personalization is now being applied to merchant operations and the employee experience, just as it has been for customers over the past 20 years. There is a hunger in the restaurant space for a turnkey way to improve operations and drive profit margins. This desire holds true across many types of applications (POS, e-commerce, inventory management, staffing, reservations, etc.).
The good news is that the data exists, but it’s often not well integrated or curated. As a result, traditional software struggles to uncover useful insights. Many businesses lack the resources for data mining or business intelligence to draw out these insights. Software vendors can help by using intelligent agents—programs that make decisions based on their environment—to provide answers and insights tailored to a merchant’s specific goals. These insights can then be used to boost employee performance, productivity and efficiency.
Further, I think there is still a perception that technology detracts from the hospitality experience, which is not the case. The use of behind-the-scenes technology to create personalized, customizable experiences for guests is a trend I think we will talk about more and more. Technology is not about replacing the human touch, but enhancing it—making dining more dynamic and exciting while keeping the focus on food, ambiance and personal interactions where they matter most. This approach helps businesses diversify their appeal, reach new audiences, and boost profitability, all while delivering more memorable experiences and exceptional hospitality to guests.
Savneet Singh
President and CEO, PAR Technology Corporation
The big shift coming is that the market can’t sustain an ever-growing list of tech vendors anymore. Franchisees and corporate operators simply won’t keep paying for more and more vendors, especially with rising costs elsewhere with labor and food. The complexity is overwhelming for employees, and it’s expensive to manage. The next trend is vendor consolidation, where restaurants will look to fewer tech providers that offer broader solutions, simplifying operations and cutting costs. Brands are going to demand tech that is extensible and readily integrates more of their needs—streamlining vendor relationships, reducing complexity, and delivering real results.
Rhonda Levene
CEO, Ziosk
Years ago, we recognized guests’ desire to be in control of their dining experience, which led us to pioneer pay-at-the-table tablets that reduced wait time and changed the industry for the better. Today, guests’ expectations about personalization are as high as ever, and we have seen operators respond with an increasing focus on putting operational solutions in place to meet them when, where, and how they want. In some cases, this is as simple as easy, automatic pickup with less clicks, and at other times, it requires integrated technology that personalizes an experience to each guest—from the point of ordering all the way through payment and departure. We have always prioritized guest feedback at the heart of our technology offering and we believe that this deep understanding of guest preferences and behaviors will soon become the most important currency for restaurant brands. While gathering accurate data from guests is the first step here, access to actionable intelligence drawn from it will be the key differentiator between restaurants that thrive and those that fall behind. We’re confident this will set our clients apart, which is why we’re building a proprietary AI engine to turn the feedback into implementable insights called Ziosk Intelligence.
Philip McGahey
Vice President, Loyalty Sales, Advisors Business Development, Mastercard
With responsibly collected, managed, and activated data, restaurants can deliver engagement that maximizes every interaction. But smart personalization is ushering in a new era of consumer-centricity that centers connection in the engagement equation. The next big trend isn’t about what we use to engage, but rather how we engage overall.
More and more, brands will understand that mastering the context, perception, and expectations behind the consumer’s behavior will help them build long-term relationships more effectively than a birthday freebie. Taking a more empathetic approach in how you execute your engagement strategy allows you to focus on connection, and when you do so, the metric of success isn’t ultimately revenue—it’s loyalty.
For more on this year’s Digital Disruptors, check out our full list for 2024.
